Amy H. Sturgis's Blog, page 152

Young Adult Dystopias List

I've greatly expanded my Young Adult Dystopian List (especially the forthcoming 2012 and 2013 publications). This list is now too large to pair with other content, so I'm posting it by its lonesome.

Fifty Plus Years of English-Language Young Adult Dystopian Fiction, With Links

Gratuitous Kaitlyn Picspam

The most important thing I got to do last week was meet my two-and-a-half-week-old baby niece, Kaitlyn Margret.

Here she is doing her Emperor Palpatine impression.

I'm baaack!!! (temporarily...)

I'm back from Trip #1 (which was fantastic), and I have a few days until Trip #2...

Huge thanks to those of you who so kindly sent v-gifts to my LJ! You've made my day. :D


Just a quick update for now. Here are a few bits of news...

-- 1. Adagio Teas now has a line of Sherlock-inspired blends! See them here.

-- 2. Investor's Business Daily ran a piece last week on Tecumseh's leadership style, and the article by Scott S. Smith quotes both me and the biography I wrote of Tecumseh: "Tecumseh's Integrity Attracted Warriors To His Cause."

-- 3. I've begun doing narrations for a terrific new podcast for dark fiction, Tales to Terrify , which is hosted by horror author Larry Santoro. My first unabridged reading for the podcast (P.D. Cacek's "Payback") is now available on the latest episode.

A parting smile for your Monday...


see more Historic LOL

I'm leavin' on a jet plane...

I'm off on the first of my three trips over this next three-week period. *waves* See you soon! I hope all is well with you, my friends.


FYI, an update about reading Sherlock Holmes pastiches...

More than a year ago, I asked for recommendations of Sherlock Holmes pastiches and received great replies. (Thank you!) I waited until I'd finished going through all of Arthur Conan Doyle's canonical Holmesian writings in order, but now I've embarked on my pastiche reading. I'm still only "baby steps" into the project, but I thought I'd list the novels I've read thus far, ranked in order from my most favorite to my least favorite. My reviews are general, and though they may contain a few spoilers about the premise of a given work, they don't give away any twist endings or key surprises.

There are new entries on my list since the last time I posted an update (and a new title since my general post last week, as well)!


Novels

Most Favorite Novel Thus Far:
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye (2009)
Read my review.

The Mycroft Memoranda by Ray Walsh (1985)
Read my review.

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story by Michael Dibdin (1978)
Read my review.

The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel by Anthony Horowitz (2011)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Whaler by Christian Klaver (2010)
Read my review.

The Whitechapel Horrors by Edward B. Hanna (1992)
Read my review.

Time for Sherlock Holmes by David Dvorkin (1983)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes and the Seven Deadly Sins Murders by Barry Day (2002)
Read my review.

The West End Horror: A Posthumous Memoir of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (1976)
Read my review.

The Seven-Percent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D. by Nicholas Meyer (1974)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes and the Apocalypse Murders by Barry Day (2001)
Read my review.

The Canary Trainer: From the Memoirs of John H. Watson by Nicholas Meyer (1993)
Read my review.

Lestrade and the Ripper by M.J. Trow (1999)
Read my review.

Sherlock Holmes: The Rediscovered Railway Mysteries and Other Stories by John Taylor (2010)
Read my review.


I had difficulty ranking the "middling books" that I quite liked, from The Adventure of the Innsmouth Whaler down to The Apocalypse Murders; on any given day, I might rearrange those a bit. I'd recommend all of these except Trow's and Taylor's to fans of Holmes in general, but I'd still recommend Taylor's to those specifically who are fans of Benedict Cumberbatch.


Collections

The Thames Horror and Other Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Barbara Roden (2011)
Read my review.

The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes edited by John Joseph Adams (2009)
Read my review.

Next up: I'm still working on the collection Sherlock Holmes in Orbit, edited by Mike Resnick and Martin H. Greenberg (1995).


Related Works

Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle by Daniel Stashower (1999)
Read my review.

The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases by E.J. Wagner (2006)
Read my review.


Other

In the novella/novelette category, I've read and thoroughly enjoyed "The Adventure of the Elusive Emeralds" (in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #4 ), "The Adventure of the Haunted Bagpipes" (in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #5 ), and "The Book of Tobit" (in Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magazine #6 ), all by Carla Coupe (aka beledibabe ). Highly recommended!

In parting, in honor of this brilliant casting news re: Doctor Who...


see more Set Phasers To Lol


"Have you ever seen a ship with ports at the bottom of the hull, Watson?"
- Christian Klaver, Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Whaler

Here, There, and Everywhere

I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely weekend!

My "Sherlock and Science Fiction" lecture yesterday and the following Q&A discussion was terrific fun and a great success, and I thank all of you who were involved. I had a fantastic time, and I'm most grateful for everyone's support!

Whew, I have several things on my plate in the next little while. Three states in three weeks!
1. I'll be an author/scholar guest at StellarCon 36.
2. I'll be presenting a talk on "Fringe's Literary Ancestors" at SONAR: The Symposium on Nerdy Academic Research.
3. I'll be a scholarly roundtable participant at the "Liberty and Responsibility in the American Anti-Slavery Movement" Colloquium.
4. I'll begin teaching my second-quarter graduate/undergraduate seminar on "Native American Myth, Film, & Fiction" at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

Here's my new niece Kaitlyn sporting one of my very first gifts to her, the oh-so-stylin' Yoda Hat, which I understand is what all the newborn Jedi are wearing this year. (Judge her by her size, you should not!)



Speaking of Sherlock Holmes, I have a few new book reviews of Sherlockian works up at Goodreads:
1. Teller of Tales: The Life of Arthur Conan Doyle by Daniel Stashower (1999)
2. Time for Sherlock Holmes by David Dvorkin (1983)
3. The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases by E.J. Wagner (2006)
4. Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Innsmouth Whaler by Christian Klaver (2010)


"My oldest and dearest friend, the pastimes for us will be endless, infinite, and eternal."
- David Dvorkin, Time for Sherlock Holmes

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy birthday to mr_earbrass and mollypunkin , and happy early birthday to cookiefleck , firiath , alicia_stardust , ankh_hpl , dqg_neal , xerum525 , homespunheart , jagash , nightlywanderer , rosamundeb , and kalquessa . May all of you enjoy many happy returns of the day!

Here's a picture of our brand-new baby niece Kaitlyn Margret, who is one week old today!




Happy Valentine's Day to all! In honor of today's occasion, a quote:

Hail Bishop Valentine, whose day this is,
All the air is thy Diocese,
And all the chirping choristers
And other birds are thy parishioners,
Thou marryest ever year
The lyric Lark, and the grave whispering Dove,
The Sparrow that neglects his life for love,
The household bird, with the red stomacher;
Thou maks't the black bird speed as soon,
As doth the Goldfinch, or the Halycon;
The husband cock looks out, and straight is sped,
And meets his wife, which brings her feather-bed.
This day more cheerfully than ever shine,
This day, which might enflame thy self, old Valentine.

Till now, thou warmd'st with mutiplying loves
Two larks, two sparrows, or two doves,
All that is nothing unto this,
For thou this day couplest two Phoenixes;
Thou mak'st a Taper see
What the sun never saw, and what the Ark
(Which was of fowls, and beasts, the cage and park,)
Did not contain, one bed contains, through thee,
Two Phoenixes, whose joined breasts
Are unto one another mutual nests,
Where motion kindles such fires, as shall give
Young Phoenixes, and yet the old shall love.
Whose love and courage never shall decline,
But make the whole year through, thy day, O Valentine....

from John Donne, "An Epithalamion, Or Marriage Song, On the Lady Elizabeth and Count Palatine Being Married on St. Valentine's Day"

Saturday Notes

Happy belated birthday to time_shark , alitalf , mayree , akaihyo , vonjunzt , and wiredwizard , and happy early birthday to griffith_gwyn !


A few news items of possible interest:

* The Pulp Magazines Project has just posted the first several issues of Amazing Stories, including April 1926 – September 1926 and December 1926. Read the classic pulp magazine edited by Hugo Gernsback in all its scanned-in glory, with stories by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Edgar Allan Poe, Murray Leinster and more.

* The Library of America has announced two forthcoming titles that make me a very happy camper: American Science Fiction – Nine Classic Novels of the 1950s , edited by Gary K. Wolfe (October 2012). Volume 1: 1953–1956 includes 1. Frederick Pohl & C. M. Kornbluth's The Space Merchants, 2. Theodore Sturgeon's More Than Human, 3. Leigh Brackett's The Long Tomorrow, and 4. Richard Matheson's The Shrinking Man. Volume 2: 1956–1958 includes 1. Robert Heinlein's Double Star, 2. Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination, 3. James Blish's A Case of Conscience, 4. Algis Budrys's Who?, and 5. Fritz Leiber's Big Time.

* In more somber news, actor Peter Breck, who portrayed Nick Barkley in Big Valley , died on Monday. I grew up on Westerns, and Big Valley was my childhood favorite. It's sad that such an integral and beloved part of that show is gone forever, but he won't be forgotten.


On a lighter note:


see more Historic LOL

The first rule of the Diogenes Club: don't talk in The Diogenes Club.
- as seen on a t-shirt

Welcome, Kaitlyn Margret!

Last night my sister and her husband welcomed their firstborn into the world.

Our new niece, Kaitlyn Margret, is here! She's healthy, beautiful, and full of personality. The Force is strong in her. :D

Welcome, Baby Kaitlyn!

"To thee no star be dark. Both heaven and earth friend thee for ever."
Shakespeare, The Two Noble Kinsmen

R.I.P., Samuel Youd, a.k.a. John Christopher (1922-2012)

Samuel Youd, who wrote science fiction under the name John Christopher, has passed away at the age of 89. He's perhaps best known for his young adult Tripods series as well as the post-apocalyptic novels Empty World and The Death of Grass (also published as No Blade of Grass).



Read more at Locus Online.


"What I was suddenly aware of was the importance of their being whatever each of them was---cocky and contemptuous, or bothered and beaten---as long as it was something they'd come to in their own way: the importance of being human, in fact. The peace and harmony Uncle Ian and the others claimed to be handing out in fact was death, because without being yourself, an individual, you weren't really alive."
― John Christopher, When the Tripods Came

I saw The Woman in Black today...

Apologies for the extended silence. This has been one crazy-hectic work week! I hope all's well with you, my friends.


First, a couple of links to share...

* From Flavorwire: "The Ten Best Sherlocks That You've Probably Never Seen." (Thanks to jan_u_wine !)

* Presenting Lenore is celebrating Dystopian February with month-long themed posts, book reviews, and giveaways. It promises to be great fun.


And a few miscellaneous notes...

* I saw The Woman in Black today. I'll admit that I'm often something of a literary snob when it comes to film adaptations of books in general, and I quite liked Susan Hill's novel on which this movie is based, in particular. I'm therefore trying to decide why I'm not more upset at the way the film took liberties with the novel. Perhaps it's because the feel of the movie captures the feel of the book so well, despite deviations in the storyline; perhaps it's because I genuinely liked several of the changes this adaptation makes. It's not a perfect film, to be sure, but I quite enjoyed its carefully crafted atmosphere (the handling of the various deaths of children in Crythin Gifford is especially well done), and Daniel Radcliffe was understated and compelling in the leading role (which could've easily been over the top without his restraint). The nursery at Eel Marsh House has the creepiest toys ever.

* Tickets have sold out for my Sherlock and Science Fiction web lecture/Q&A on February 18. Thanks to everyone who has helped spread the word about this event!

* The brilliant Diva Diane has honored me with the Versatile Blogger Award. Many thanks, Diane! You're fabulous.

* Last call for participating in my poll on the "Vampire Novel of the Century." Many thanks to those of you who have taken part already.


And now, to put 2012 in context...



"The world, Watson," he said firmly, "is an ass."
- David Dvorkin, Time for Sherlock Holmes